


Past Lives

by Beatrice_Otter



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Time Travel, gen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2018-06-06 23:05:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6773950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beatrice_Otter/pseuds/Beatrice_Otter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the craziest thing that's ever happened to Finn, and that's saying something.  All he wants to do is get back home, but that may not be possible.  Failing that, he'd like to change things ... but the First Order's history classes for stormtroopers leave a lot to be desired.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Finn scrambled to his feet. How he ended up on the ground, he didn't know, but that was the least of his worries. He was surrounded by stormtroopers who hadn't been there two seconds before, and they all had their guns out and pointed at him. There was no way he could get his own gun out and pointed before they took him down.

Something was wrong.

Well, a _lot_ of things were wrong, but the first was that they weren't shooting at him. Which, okay, maybe they wanted to take him prisoner, and he wasn't complaining! But it was still weird. But even if they wanted him alive, they should still be ... reacting to him. These troops were quiet. Nobody was calling him a traitor, nobody was vibrating with barely controlled fury, and that was how it had gone every time he'd come up against troopers since defecting. These guys were calm. Professional, good coverage, obviously seasoned troops, but they were treating him like a random stranger who just _happened_ to wander in to the middle of their formation.

It was very disconcerting.

Almost as much as the weird armor they wore.

It was recognizably stormtrooper armor, but ... different. There was a big visor, for example. And ... they were painted. There was color—blue. And each one was different, some in subtle ways and some in big, obvious ways. Why were they customized? Who let them? That was the whole _point_ of the armor, to make all the troopers identical and interchangeable.

Nothing was happening. Just as he was opening his mouth to say something (he hadn't figured out what—"hey, guys, wanna put your blasters down?" maybe) there was a ripple through the troops as they parted for someone. Finn groaned. Officers were NEVER a good thing.

But this ... wasn't an officer. No armor—not a chrometrooper—and not the cloth uniform of a naval officer, either. No uniform at all. Pants and a tunic and a ... was that a _lightsaber_ at her waist? Two of them? But she didn't look like a Knight of Ren. There was a lot less black for one thing, and no helmet. And she didn't feel like one, either. Finn hadn't spent a lot of time near Kylo, but he'd always felt a sort of oiliness that made his skin crawl when he did, combined with an almost painful static in his head. There was something there—this young Togruta had a presence that most people didn't—but it wasn't anything like Kylo Ren.

What in all the kriffing hells had _happened_?

"Who are you, and how did you get here?" she demanded.

"Finn," he said, to test the waters, but none of them reacted. "And I was going to ask you the same thing."

"Ahsoka Tano, Jedi and Commander in the Grand Army," the Togruta replied. "And we've _been_ here for the last week. _You_ , however, just appeared out of nowhere."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_"You_ , however, just appeared out of nowhere," Tano said. Whatever she said, she was just a kid. She couldn't possibly be a commander. Jedi … if there were other Jedi, why had they had that whole mad scramble to find Luke Skywalker? But a Jedi working _with_ First Order troops?

"Me?" Finn said. " _I_ was walking through the ruins minding my own business—" well, _sneaking_ through them, trying to get in position to plant trackers on the First Order ships landed on the other side of them, "—when all of a sudden your guys came out of nowhere. I think I would have noticed a whole encampment if there was one here." He could see a whole bunch of ships and tents and things behind the troopers that _hadn't been there when he started across_. He couldn't possibly have missed them; the whole point of coming in from this angle was that this was the direction the troopers _weren't_.

It was more than just the troopers that had appeared out of nowhere. He was shivering, now, where just a few minutes earlier he'd been sweating. The temperature had dropped like a rock. And it was lighter than it had been, daytime. He'd been taking advantage of twilight. Everything was all wrong.

Had he been knocked unconscious for a few hours, somehow? Overnight? But then why hadn't his backup come to get him? And if he'd been lying there unconscious, why didn't he feel any bruising or anything from a fall or a hit on the head or a drug?

Tano, he noticed, hadn't said anything more. She wasn't even looking at him anymore—she was staring behind him. He followed her gaze. She was staring at a colored pedestal, weathered by long exposure to the elements. Finn had walked by it shortly before … _whatever_ happened. He glanced around. Yeah, his first impression had been right: it was the same style as everything else in the ruins, but there wasn't anything else quite like it. There was the rubble of a collapsed building around it, but that was par for the course … huh. Hadn't there been grass growing on the rubble just a few minutes ago?

A glance at the troopers around him reminded him of the much bigger problems he had, namely that he was now a First Order prisoner and they would figure out who he was soon enough and he didn't want to die, but he'd rather be dead than reconditioned.

But he was surrounded by at least thirty troopers, all with their weapons pointing at him, and while there was no way to escape now, there might be later. If he kept his cool. If not, he bet he could at least force them to kill him.

"Didn't that pedestal used to be blue, not green?" Tano asked.

"Yes, Commander," one of the troopers replied. "Also, it's putting out quite a heat signature, which it wasn't doing before."

"It's also putting out a _very_ strong signal in the Force, which it _also_ wasn't before," the Togruta said. She turned to Finn. "Did you do anything to it?"

"No," he said. He hadn't, other than using it as a landmark. It was big enough and distinctive enough to help navigate through what had once been a good sized town, from the looks of it. He'd been curious about it, but he was on a mission. No time to clamber over the unstable remains of a building that surrounded it. Not if he wanted to get in, plant the beacon on the First Order ship, and get out before they either detected him or took off themselves.

She took out a commlink. "Master, it's Ahsoka. A human just popped up in the middle of the ruins, and he _says_ he didn't touch it but one of the artifacts is acting … weird."

Finn strained to hear the answer, but he wasn't close enough—he could make out sound but not words.

"It's glowing in the Force, and it's changed color, and it's putting out heat." Pause. "Uh-huh." Pause. "No." A longer pause, this time, as she listened to whoever was on the other end and looked Finn up and down. "I don't think so? He's not _dressed_ like a Separatist, anyway. And like I said, he's Human, not a local." Pause. "Yes, Master."

She clicked it off. "Sergeant Appo, set a guard around the pedestal, make sure nobody else gets in or out, and move camp a bit further away from it. Just in case. _You_ ," she said, pointing at Finn, "are coming with me. And we are going to figure out what is going on and where you came from."

Finn knew where he came from. What he wanted to know was where _they_ came from. And he _really_ wanted to know what kind of troop this was, that an officer (if she really _was_ an officer) used a trooper's name instead of their designation. But with all the guns pointing at him, he wasn't about to quibble. He bit his tongue, something he'd learned long ago in his training, a skill he'd been happy to shed in his new life. It was easier when you had a helmet to hide your face.

Tano turned and headed off through the ruins, stopping a short distance away in a courtyard where a mobile base headquarters had been set up, with trooper shelters fanning out around it, interspersed with a variety of old, obsolete heavy weaponry. It looked eerily similar to the First Order camp that Finn had been trying to sneak up on, except that the First Order camp had been sensible enough to set up on the nice wide plain just outside the ruins where you had space and good visibility lines.

Before they entered the headquarters, they searched him, taking his main blaster, his holdout blaster, and the vibroknife from his boot. Finn really hated the loss of that last one—it was too small to be much good in a fight, but if the worst happened, he could've used it to kill himself rather than face First Order reconditioning. If these really were First Order troops—he was beginning to have his doubts. But why use the most recognizable armor in the galaxy? He was so confused.

_Then_ they found the trackers in his pockets.

"Just _happened_ to be carrying these, did you, Seppie?" Appo said. "While out with a walk. I suppose you've got no idea how they got into your pockets, eh?"

"No, I know they got into my pockets because I put them there," Finn said. No point in playing innocent bystander when he was on the Order's Most Wanted list. "Kinda curious what a 'Seppie' is, though."

" _That's_ a new one," said one of the other troopers. "Seen Seppies protest they aren’t one, before, never seen _anybody_ claim not to know what they _are_. You been hiding under a rock, or are you just trying to make us think you're a harmless nutcase?"

"Hey, I'm no nutcase," Finn said. "I really don't care who you are, and I'm not a Seppie, whatever that is. I was just trying to get through these ruins to the First Order ships on the other side, didn't even know you guys were here. If you let me go, I'll get out of your bucket."

"What?" asked Tano.

"You've worked with clones before, and you claim not to know what a Seppie is?" Appo said.

"Clones?" Finn said. "Like as in clone _troopers_? They're making clonetroopers again?"

"They never stopped," Tano said.

They'd stopped, alright, nobody'd made clone troopers in about fifty years. If anybody were still making them, Finn would never have been made into a stormtrooper. He opened his mouth to point this out when the door opened and a human walked in.

He was strangely dressed, in a combination of brown armor and robes. With the dark robes and the hair and the lightsaber at his side, he looked a _lot_ like Kylo Ren.

"So, Snips, any luck in figuring out who our prisoner is and what he's doing here?"

"No, Master," Tano said. "He claims he doesn't even know who the Seppies _are_. But he knows clonetrooper slang. He says there are ships belonging to some kind of First Order on the other side, and he was on his way to _them_. Complete with a stealth homing beacon to attach to their sides." She held it up for her Master's inspection.

"But you claim it's not meant for _our_ ships?" he said, looking at Finn skeptically. Then he took a closer look at the beacon and frowned. "Wait a minute, this is kind of weird." He grabbed a tool from his belt and pried off the casing, inspecting the innards.

"I'm Finn, by the way," Finn said.

"Anakin Skywalker," the guy said absently, attention on the device.

"Like, are you related to Luke Skywalker?" Finn asked. It would explain the lightsaber, at least—didn't Force sensitivity go in families?

"To who?" Anakin Skywalker looked up at him, frowning.

"Jedi Master Luke Skywalker," Finn said. "Are you related to him?"

"There's no other Skywalkers in the Jedi Order," Anakin said.

"Master Luke is the head of the Jedi," Finn said. Well. Head, yes, of an organization that right now had only two members. But claiming not to know who Luke Skywalker was, that was even more bizarre than claiming not to know who the First Order was. The Republic had been, by all accounts, insular enough that a Republic citizen might never have heard about the First Order before Starkiller Base destroyed Hosnian Prime. (Afterwards, _everybody_ knew about the First Order.) But even before that, everyone on all sides knew who Luke Skywalker was.

"Yoda is the head of the Jedi Order," Tano said.

Before Finn could ask who _that_ was, Skywalker's belt chirped. He held up a small holocomm, and another man in robes was projected. "Anakin, is the prisoner secure?"

"Yes," Skywalker said. "Is he dangerous?"

"I've no idea," the other man said. "But you must stop talking to him, now. No communication with him, none whatsoever. If what I fear has happened—we need Mace Windu and Jocasta Nu here, immediately."


	3. Chapter 3

Ahsoka followed her master to where Master Kenobi was examining the pedestal. They were here partly because the ruins had been a Jedi monastery with a thriving research station for centuries before it was abandoned as the Order became more centralized on Coruscant, they'd been damaged in fighting a few months earlier, exposing things that had previously been hidden or contained, and they Order had gotten intel that Dooku might try to salvage something he could use as a weapon. So far, Dooku had failed to show. Ahsoka and Anakin had been treating this mission almost like a vacation, because they couldn't find anything active or dangerous, and even Master Obi-Wan was more relaxed than usual. And the clones had taken their cues from their generals.

Maybe they'd been _too_ casual. And too quick to call things safe.

"You know, Obi-Wan, this tracker our guest was carrying is really interesting," Anakin said as he scaled the rubble to get to the pedestal.

Ahsoka followed, testing each step with the Force for stability before taking it.

"I'm not surprised," Master Obi-Wan said. "All things considered. Tell me, do either of you remember this object from the briefing Master Nu gave us?"

"No," Ahsoka said, shaking her head. "It wasn't the thing Dooku was after."

"It was almost an afterthought in Master Nu's presentation, and she was uncharacteristically vague in describing it," Obi-Wan said. "She was not, however, vague in describing the necessity of staying _away_ from it. But if I understand what she said, and the inscriptions on the controls, it is designed to facilitate time travel."

"Time travel?" Ahsoka said skeptically. "Like in some of those cheesy fantasy holos?" Both masters turned to look at her. "Hey, we spend a lot of time aboard ship, where there's not much to do besides my lessons and meditating. I get bored."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at Anakin. "Yes. Well. Be that as it may, that does … seem to be what it says it does. And it would explain how he appeared out of nowhere."

"And why I don't recognize this tracker," Anakin said.

"And why he doesn't recognize the Seppies or Master Anakin," Ahsoka said. "Is he from the future or the past?"

"I've no idea," Obi-Wan said. "Either could be dangerous. If he's from the past, and learns things about what's happening now, and we manage to return him to his own timeline, he could change things dramatically in ways we've no idea and probably couldn't imagine."

"But maybe he could prevent the war," Ahsoka said. "Wouldn't _that_ be good?"

"Possibly," Obi-Wan said, "but the war is a large and complicated thing, and there were many actions leading up to it, and some of the necessary preconditions for the Separatist breakaway happened long ago. What if he gets back to his own time, attempts to prevent the war, and only manages to alter things so that the Separatists attack a decade earlier, before the clones were made?"

"Oh," Ahsoka said. She tried to imagine fighting this war without the 501st—going up against clankers single-handed, no covering fire. "That wouldn't be good."

"Exactly," Obi-Wan said. "And the same limitations apply to _us_ if he is from the future and we learn what his world is like. We could change things, and make them worse in the process, without any sort of idea what the true consequences might be. And there's a good chance we would change things out of all recognition, such that he could never return home because it doesn't exist anymore."

Anakin looked at him suspiciously. "Obi-Wan, how do you know this? It's not like they teach classes on time-travel even in the Jedi Order."

"The only places they talk about time travel are those cheesy holodramas," Ahsoka pointed out. She widened her eyes innocently. "Master Obi-Wan, does that mean that _you_ watch cheesy fantasy holos?"

Anakin grinned. "Yeah, Obi-Wan, do you?"

"I was once a young, bored padawan with nothing to do while travelling for missions myself," Obi-Wan said with great dignity.

"And that's where we're basing our strategy on?" Anakin said. "Old fantasy holodramas?"

"Do you have a better idea?" Obi-Wan said. "Jocasta Nu will be able to tell us a lot more about this experiment and why it was abandoned and what the potential dangers are. Mace Windu sees shatterpoints, the fault points where things change—that will be invaluable if we are indeed dealing with time travel. If our guest is not a time-traveler—or I am wrong about the possible consequences of communication with him—then no one will be harmed by a slight delay while we wait for Masters Windu and Nu. If he _is_ a time-traveler, and I'm right about the dangers—"

"You mean, if the holodramas are right about the dangers," Anakin put in.

Obi-wan ignored him. "—then we are in a much better position if we do _not_ talk."

* * *

Finn was bored. This was a good thing.

Nobody had done anything even vaguely like reconditioning prep. Nobody had threatened him. His hands were cuffed, but in a comfortable position. There was no bid for psychological dominance, such as the First Order liked to use before starting in on the real torture. None of the standard interrogation prep procedures had been done, nor anything like them. Nothing, in fact, had been done since Skywalker and Tano had left him alone with the clone troopers.

Finn was not complaining. He'd take bored over torture or reconditioning any day of the week. It was kind of homey, actually, being bored and surrounded by white armor.

Except without the comforting weight of his _own_ armor. It had been such a shock, the first time with the Resistance he'd wished for his armor back. He'd spent so long, most of his life, annoyed at the armor in one way or another: the way it restricted his vision, the way it got sticky when the temp controls went on the fritz, the way the gloves made everything harder, the way the rigidity of it constrained his movements and got in the way when he was working—why did he need to wear armor to take out the trash?—the way it blocked out every sensation except that of the suit itself. Like many of his brothers and sisters, he'd found any excuse to strip out of it—at least the helmet and gloves—lingering over those few times when it was permitted. He'd discarded it as soon as he could, even though its temperature controls would have been handy on Jakku's desert.

And found himself craving it, shortly thereafter. He'd told himself, in the odd free moment as they careened off Jakku and to Maz's place and the Resistance base on D'Qar and then to Starkiller Base and back, that he only wished for it because it would have been useful in a fight. (And how strange was it that he'd only really put the armor to its intended use once as a stormtrooper, but would have used it constantly after his escape?) Surely, that wasn't odd—especially on Starkiller, where it would have been a useful disguise?

Then, back on D'Qar, he'd woken up in a strange place with Rey and Poe both gone, and the familiar pressure of the armor gone, and he'd hyperventilated. He'd thought it was damage from the still-healing wound, but Major Kalonia had said it was a panic attack. Things got better as he healed more, and especially when Poe was on-base between missions, but there were times when the sheer openness of the world around him made his skin crawl and long for the weight of his armor. Not always, but … now and then.

These troopers … their armor looked different. The paint alone was a shock, but the shape of the helmets (so many different variations!) was almost disorienting. But if he looked at their feet, and listened to the clinking and whirring that the armor made … he could almost feel the weight of his own discarded armor. It was terrifying, and comforting, and terrifying that it was comforting.

But he couldn't take too long to let that feeling distract him, because if these guys weren't angry at him as a traitor, he probably had a lot better chance with them than with their officers. Clone or not, he bet he knew how they thought. The training couldn’t be _that_ different.

"Hey, I'm Finn," he said. "FN-2187."

 _That_ got a reaction.

"You're no clone," said the trooper on the left side of the door. His pauldrons were blue with darker blue striping, his knees and cheekpieces were blue, and there were three blue stripes like claw marks on his left shoulder. Three blue stripes adorned his helmet like the wings of a Lambda shuttle. He sounded annoyed.

"Obviously not," Finn said. "But I _am_ a trooper in the First Order. Or I was. FN-2187."

"If you're not a clone, you're not a trooper," the Lambda-faced guy said. "You're not one of us. _Don't_ try to pretend otherwise."

"General Kenobi said no talking," said the other trooper. He had the Imperial emblem on his helmet, with his eyepieces outlined in blue. There was a blue stripe down the center of his chest, and one on the outside of each arm from shoulder to wrist. His shins were blue, too.

"Hey, just trying to pass the time," Finn said.

"Unfortunately, that may be rather dangerous at the present time." A human man walked through the door and the two troopers snapped to attention. This one was wearing lighter-colored armor and robes than Anakin Skywalker, but in a similar style, with short hair and a beard. A lightsaber hung at his waist. "We aren't quite sure what happened, but the device that activated seems to be some sort of time travel device."

"Time travel?" Finn frowned, racking his brain. "What the dwang is that? How do you travel in _time_?" Growing up a trooper in the First Order, there were a lot of things that Finn knew a lot about. (No, he was not anywhere near as innocent as Poe sometimes assumed.) But there were a lot of things that weren't deemed necessary, that were apparently common knowledge in the rest of the galaxy, and Finn _hated_ feeling stupid for not knowing them.

The troopers shifted.

"It's not common," the new officer said. "The … people who lived here long ago were experimenting with it. And, as I said, the device that activated when you arrived was part of that experiment. You appeared out of nowhere when it went off. And you are very strange to us. It is a good bet that you are either from our future, or our past."

"Maybe _you're_ the ones who travelled in time," Finn said, thoughts racing. Time travel. Which meant that _they were really clone troopers from the original Clone Wars_. Holy Sith! They'd been the ideal he was supposed to aspire to all his life! But unlike the training holos, their armor was personalized! And their officer _had used one of their names_. To hear the teachers talk, they'd been even more interchangeable and indistinguishable than the Stormtroopers of Finn's day were supposed to be. He felt satisfied to learn differently. One more way the First Order was wrong. Assuming this wasn't all some giant hoax, but it seemed like an awful lot of effort for anyone to go to.

"We've been in contact with our people since you arrived," the officer said. He handed Finn's communicator back to him. "Why don't you try?"

Finn took it, thoughts racing. It was encrypted, low-powered, omni-directional, and it didn't hook into the larger comnetwork on the planet. There was no way to trace a transmission to the person receiving it, only to the person sending … and they already had him. He thumbed it on. "Shuttle, you there?" 'Shuttle' was code name for a droid. It wouldn't have fallen asleep or left for a toilet break. He checked the com's recorder. No messages. "Shuttle?"

He was answered only by silence.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Ahsoka stood behind her Master and Ob-Wan as they waited for the shuttle to land. The Force had been with them; this was such an obscure planet in a backwater sector. It would have taken weeks for the experts to get here from Coruscant, if that had been necessary, but it had not.

Jocasta Nu had been away from the Temple for only the second time in the duration of the war, to attend a conference on how to preserve data and artifacts amid the destruction of war. Mace Windu had been escorting Senator Organa on a fact-finding mission just a sector away. It had taken a day for them to rendezvous with Master Nu, and another day to reach Ch'tagra, where the 501st was waiting for them.

The wind picked up, and Ahsoka almost shivered. Anakin must be _really_ cold, if it was cool enough that _she_ was feeling a chill; their temperature preferences were both extreme for their species. Anakin liked things hot and got cold easily; she liked things cold, and overheated easily. The next generation of temperature-regulation in the armor might be good enough that she could stand to wear it. That would make her master happy, on the battlefield, but it would slow her down.

She dragged her attention back to the shuttle as it landed. It opened, and the customary greetings were exchanged. Senator Organa hung back, but then, this was Jedi business and he was quite literally along for the ride.

"I had thought, Master Windu, that Anakin would escort you to our guest, while I show Master Nu the device," Obi-Wan said.

"I don't need to see him," Master Windu said. "This whole place is a shatterpoint. Everything here is … in flux. You haven't changed anything yet, but … it would only take the slightest move."

"Your assistance with the device would be appreciated," said Master Nu. "It was a previous Jedi's experience with shatterpoints that spurred the breakthrough the technology was based upon. You may have some insight that I would lack."

"I confess, I am more interested in your … guest than I am in the device," Senator Organa said. "Whether he turns out to be a time-traveler or not, there are not many who can sneak up on Jedi and clones together."

"You must not speak with him until we have confirmed his origins," Nu said. "Master Kenobi was quite right to forbid it. This technology was abandoned for a reason; it is entirely too dangerous and unpredictable to use. The smallest things can change the timeline in quite unpredictable ways; and yet, other things are strangely resistant to change. It is unpredictable and the possible benefits and damages are impossible to predict."

"He's actually pretty boring," Ahsoka said. "I mean, he can't talk to us and we can't talk to him, so he just kinda … sits there." Master Windu and Master Nu both looked disapprovingly at her—oh, right, they both belonged to the _Padawans should be seen and not heard_ school of thought, especially when it came to things like contradicting Republic Senators. "But I can take you to see him, if you'd like, Senator."

"Thank you, Padawan Tano," Organa said.

She led the way off through the camp without looking back, even though she would much rather have been with the others examining the device. It wasn't like they were going to learn anything new from Finn, after all—Obi-Wan had forbidden him from even sharing his last name with them.

They entered the tent where Finn was staying to find him playing sabacc with his guards. The two clones scrambled to attention as Ahsoka and Senator Organa entered. Finn looked like he wasn't quite sure if he shouldn't be joining them.

"Sirs!" said Kano. "It's just a harmless way to pass the time. No talking about anything other than the game itself, I swear it."

"Sergeant Kano's right," Jesse said. "Actually, having something to pass the time makes it less likely one of us will say or do something that might be significant."

"Hey, don't look at me," Finn said. "The _last_ thing I want to do is jeopardize my chances of getting home."

"It's fine," Ahsoka said. "Senator Organa, may I present our guest, Finn? Finn, this is Senator Organa of Alderaan."

"Pleased to meet you," Finn said. He glanced between them. "Does this mean the experts have arrived to figure out how I can get home?"

"Yes," Organa said. "You're anxious to get home?"

"Oh, yeah," Finn said, staring at him. Maybe because it was such an obvious question, but what else could they talk about? Anything else was too loaded, and Ahsoka wasn't sure she should have actually introduced them by name. What if the fact that Bail Organa was Senator from Alderaan was significant?

"So, have they figured out if you're from the future or the past?" Organa asked.

"That kinda depends on whose perspective you're talking about, doesn't it?" Finn said.

"And, in any case, that's really enough talking," Ahsoka said. "I'm sorry to interrupt, Senator, but we really can't afford to take chances." She turned to Kano and Jesse. "Why don't you go back to your game?" She gestured to the door, and Organa followed her hint with only a slight pause.

"He looks so ordinary," Organa said once they were outside.

"Yup," Ahsoka said. It wasn't what he looked like, it was the hints he'd offered about the time he came from that were interesting. "What were you expecting?"

"I don't know," Organa said. "Not that."

* * *

"Hey, Finn, where's your head?" Jesse asked.

"Not here," Finn said, studiously avoiding meeting Jesse's eyes as he had since the clone had taken his bucket off. Having the Imperial symbol painted on his helmet was one thing; seeing it tattooed across his face and head was somehow even more disturbing. Finn hated that symbol and what it stood for; at the same time, seeing it tattooed on a _trooper's_ face—allowed that kind of individuality, subverting everything it stood for—held a kind of fascination for him.

Finn was treating everything he saw as if it were real and genuine, which made the clones his brothers. Fathers? Uncles? He still wasn't quite convinced that he'd travelled in time, but on the other hand … this was way too much effort to go to just to confuse one poor ex-Stormtrooper, current Resistance agent. And even if it was, he couldn't see the harm in going along with it.

" _That's_ obvious," said Sergeant Kano.

"You know Organa?" Jesse asked.

"Trooper," Kano said, dangerously.

"Right, sorry," Jesse said. "Question retracted. I fold, anyway." He made a face at his cards and tossed them down.

Kano and Finn continued the hand for a few more minutes before Kano conceded, and then it was time for a meal and Finn had time to think without it being obvious that their visitor had distracted him.

Senator _Organa_.

As in, _General_ Organa?

It was in times like this that Finn absolutely _hated_ the galactic obsession with having more than one name. If one name wasn't enough, couldn't they at least stick to one single system? Even within a single species, there could be multiple systems. In a year with the Resistance, he'd come across at least six among humans alone.

Usually, but not always, the second name was a family name shared by clan members. Usually, but not always, you kept that name through life. Sometimes it changed with marriage or other significant life event. Sometimes it didn't. Sometimes kids took their father's clan name, sometimes their mother's.

General Organa and Master Skywalker were brother and sister, but they (obviously) didn't share last names. General Organa hadn't taken Han's name when they married; Master Skywalker wasn't married (that he knew of). So those were probably the names they'd been given at birth. And if they were in the middle of the Clone Wars, well, Finn had never been good at remembering the dates once the test was over, but they were about the right age to be born sometime during it or only a few years afterwards. Either Anakin Skywalker or Senator Organa could be their father. (Or both? Standard model was children came from male/female mating, but there were ways around that.) But whatever their parentage was, the Force had to be up to _something_ , putting him in a position to meet both of them, one right after the other.

There was something else nagging at him, he knew, as he ate his meal—combat rations, very similar to what he'd gotten as a Stormtrooper when he'd been shipboard. Something about Organa that bothered him.

After eating, he lay down on the cot they'd given him and tried to figure it out. Senator Organa, Republic Senate, Alderaan. Alderaan? _Alderaan!_

* * *

"It is the time travel device, there is no question about that," Master Nu said, springing down from the pile of rubble to the stable ground around it. "It appears to have sustained some damage when the building housing it was destroyed. And it was never designed to be exposed to the elements. I do not believe it can be repaired—it would take years of research to fully understand the device, and begin to fabricate the parts necessary."

"And then we would have a working time travel device, which we don't want," Obi-Wan said.

"Except to send Finn back when he came from," Anakin pointed out. That poor guy— _he_ was the one stranded, far from home, and people kept forgetting that, talking more about what they could learn from him, or the damage he could do, than anything else. Anakin thought of the prospect of never seeing Padmé, Ahsoka, or Obi-Wan again, and shivered. And he was a Jedi! How much worse would that be to someone who hadn't been trained from childhood to let go of attachments?

"And then what?" Obi-Wan said. "Good for Finn—then we have a working time travel device, can you imagine what the Separatists would do if they got their hands on it? Or, Force forbid, the Sith?"

Anakin shrugged. "That's what explosives are for, Master." He studied the device, dull and cold now. It was strange to look at machinery and have not the slightest clue where to start fixing it. "You're sure there isn't some way to just jerry-rig it for a single-shot trip to return Finn home?"

"I'm sure, Jedi Skywalker," Nu said, sounding annoyed.

"I concur," Windu said. He'd been wandering around, looking at the thing from all angles. "This whole planet is one big shatterpoint— _except_ for that thing. That thing is dead, and can't change anything—or be changed. But it's got residue. Whatever it's done, it's already _done_. There will be no more change from it."

"Poor guy," Anakin said. "How do we tell him?"


	5. Chapter 5

Finn sat down heavily. Dimly he realized he'd knocked over the table they'd been playing sabaac on. "But, you can still send me home, right?" he asked, desperate, hoping he'd misheard.

"I'm afraid that's quite impossible," said the old woman. "This device was the only time travel device ever recorded in the Jedi archives, and those are the most complete archives in the galaxy. If it is not recorded there, it was never recorded anywhere."

"And even if we could figure out how to get it working again, it would take years—maybe decades—of study," the Jedi with his skin tone said. Windu. Mace Windu. "That in itself would change the course of history, so that you might find yourself in a completely different timeline _anyway_. I am sorry for you, but there is no way to return you to your proper time."

"But can _they_ fix it? From their end?" Finn couldn't believe he'd never be able to see Poe and Rey again. They'd never stop looking for him; Shuttle the droid could tell them where he'd been when he disappeared, they could find the device in the ruins, and then maybe _they_ could bring him home. Rey was ace with anything mechanical. She could fix it. And Master Skywalker was a Jedi.

"Are you from our future, or our past?" the woman asked. Nu, that was her name. Master Nu.

"Your future," Finn said. He glanced around—at the _clone_ troopers, at the _five_ Jedi standing in front of him. "This is my past."

"Then I'm afraid they will have even less luck than we would," Nu said. "If the device is broken now, it will _still_ be broken then … and the echoes in the Force face quickly. To determine what happened, they would have to be in the system at least when it went off—I don't suppose there were any Jedi close enough, to your knowledge?"

Finn shook his head. No. There were only two Jedi in the galaxy, and neither of them were anywhere close to Ch'tagra.

"Then it will have been dead and useless before they could examine it and determine even that the device had been active, much less what it had done." She paused, frowning. "I suppose it's possible that we could leave a message in the archives, telling someone to be there to give them the information?"

"That … wouldn't work." Finn shook his head. "That really wouldn't work."

"Oh?" Nu said.

"Don't tell us why," Master Kenobi said. "In any case, even if it _would_ work, that wouldn't solve the problem. They'd still have the problem of fixing it, and it's probably not possible even with all the time and resources and information in the world. I am afraid that you are stuck here."

Finn swallowed hard, feeling a faint ringing in his ears. It was starting to sink in, now. Poe, and Rey, and BB-8, the first friends he'd ever had. Gone. Forever. Just as surely as if they were dead. They'd never even know what happened to him.

He was as alone as he'd felt watching the TIE sink into Jakku's sands. Except that time, he'd only _thought_ Poe was dead, because he hadn't understood how TIE escape pods worked.

This time, Poe hadn't even been born yet. And _nobody_ knew how time travel worked.

Someone handed him a glass of water—Jesse?—and he took a cautious sip. There was a faint tang to it; they'd added something. He didn't take another.

What was he going to do now? He'd tried not to think of his options, while they'd waited for the experts to arrive, but it had been hard not to, with no one to really talk to.

Finn was a survivor. He was good at surviving. He'd survived the First Order, and escaped. He'd survived on Jakku, and found Rey and Han Solo and the Resistance and real friends for the first time in his life. He'd survived confronting Captain Phasma; he'd even survived Kylo Ren. Survived, and built a new life, his _own_ life.

He could do it again, if he had to.

But oh, he wished he didn't have to.

Rey had promised to show him a few new lightsaber moves the next time he saw her. He brushed tears from his eyes. They were talking about him, he realized, deciding his fate. He could cry later.

* * *

Ahsoka listened as the adults debated the merits of worlds she'd, by and large, never heard of. The idea was to give Finn a new life on a planet so insignificant that he couldn't change anything galactic-wide even if he wanted to. Maybe even send him out to the Unknown Regions, so he couldn't do anything to affect the Republic. Ahsoka's knowledge of planets was limited to ones that were politically or militarily significant.

In peacetime, Jedi were expected to make occasional sweeps through random parts of the galaxy just to be seen and make sure nothing weird was happening. But Ahsoka was too young to remember anything but the war and the tensions leading up to it. Even Senator Organa had contributed a few suggestions, but Ahsoka had nothing to add.

Finn was crying. Ahsoka didn't blame him. The thought of never seeing her Master or Rex or any of her crechemates ever again … that would be _devastating_. Jedi weren't supposed to be attached, but … maybe she should meditate on this, tonight.

"… I still think the Unknown Regions would be best," Master Windu said. "There are some Human settlements out there, they can always use another set of willing hands. And it should be far enough that no matter what he lets slip about the future, nobody will care enough about the Core Worlds to send word."

"No," Finn said, wiping tears away. "I'm not going to the Unkown Regions. Of all the places in the galaxy, _not_ the Unknown Regions. I grew up there, as a matter of fact. And I know what's going to happen, and _I am not going to live through it twice_. I'm staying here, and I'm telling you everything I know, and we're going to make sure none of it happens this time around."

"Finn, I know you're upset, but think about what you are saying," Master Obi-Wan said. "You miss your friends—you could prevent their even being born! You could prevent _yourself_ from being born. I doubt you'd care to take _that_ risk."

"You know _nothing_ ," Finn said. " _Nothing_ of what's going to happen, you have no _idea_ what I'm trying to prevent. My friends would all die to stop the evil that's coming, and if they found out I had a chance to chop it off at the root and _didn't_ , because I was worried about them? They'd be furious."

"You may be able to make that choice for them, Finn," Master Windu said, "but can you make that choice for the rest of the galaxy? For all the trillions of sentient beings out there who could be affected by this?"

"Yes," said Finn, standing up. "Yes, I can. Because none of them—not _one_ of them—are safe. There is a threat hanging over each and every one of them, and _I can stop it now_. Trillions? Well, I know there are _billions_ I can save by speaking up. Maybe this is why the Force brought me here. Maybe I'm _supposed_ to change things, did you ever think of that?"

"You were brought here by the last malfunction of a broken and deeply flawed piece of equipment," Master Nu said.

"Yeah," Finn said, "a piece of equipment designed and built by _Jedi_ that runs off the _Force_. And in all the time it's been sitting here abandoned, the _only_ time it fires up is to bring me here? Someone who knows what's coming, to a time when it might be nipped in the bud? And you think that's a _coincidence_? I don't. I don't think this was an accident at all. I think the Force brought me here to do this."

"He could be right," Master Anakin said. "Master Windu, you said yourself this whole place was a shatterpoint—maybe it's _supposed_ to shatter."

"This is an interesting philosophical discussion," Master Nu said, "but I would rather not risk the fate of the galaxy on theory."

"Not on theory, on the will of the Force," said Ahsoka. "Isn't that _supposed_ to be what we're listening to?"

"Yes," said Master Obi-Wan. "In theory. But it's … rarely that clear. In this case, I have had no Force-visions or premonitions about our guest—have you?"

"No," Ahsoka said, "but I feel that he is telling the truth now. He's the only one who knows. If he thinks it's important, we should listen."

"I'd like some harder evidence before any firm decisions are made," Senator Organa said, shaking his head. "It seems to me that this is a very unique circumstance, and rushing through when tempers are heated won't result in good decisions—from anyone. If we hear him out, we can't _un_ -hear his information. Some time to think and reflect before we make any decisions would be … beneficial."

"Alderaan will be destroyed."

" _What_?" Senator Organa reared back. "Is that some sort of a _threat_ , Finn? Or a bad metaphor?" Ahsoka had never heard him sound so threatening.

"Neither, Senator, just a cold, hard, fact," Finn said. "Some of those billions of lives I'd like to save? They're Alderaanian. About twenty, twenty-five years from now—I don't know the date you'd use, since nobody's used Republic dating systems in about fifty years—the Empire is going to send the first Death Star to Alderaan. That's a station the size of a moon, with a superlaser capable of turning whole planets to rubble with a single blast. And they're going to test it on Alderaan, to show the galaxy what happens to anyone who doesn't support the Empire enthusiastically enough. And, sure, the Rebels will destroy the Death Star soon after … but that's not much consolation to the people of Alderaan. And that? That is only _one_ of the horrors that I want to prevent. You really sure, _Alderaanian_ , that you don't want to listen?"

"You're lying," Organa said. "Nobody could construct a weapon like that. It would be impossible. And not even the Separatists would dare to use something that evil. The whole galaxy would turn on them."

"The Empire believed it would make the galaxy cower in fear," Finn said. "And I'm telling the truth. You've got _five_ Jedi here, ask _them_."

"He believes what he's saying," Master Obi-Wan said. "I can't tell if he's delusional—he doesn't feel delusional, but one can't always tell—but he absolutely believes, without a shred of a doubt, that he is telling the truth."

It was Senator Organa's turn to sag and fall into a chair, hand covering his face. Ahsoka exchanged concerned glances with her Master. What should they _do_? What _could_ they do? Still, that settled it, Ahsoka thought. Either Finn was crazy, or the Force had brought him here. The destruction of an entire _planet_ could not be the will of the Force.

Organa drew in a deep, ragged breath, and turned to Finn. "All right," he said. "You will tell us everything you know. Start from the beginning."

"Senator—" Master Nu began.

Organa cut her off with a glare. "Master Nu. Are you going to try to tell a Senator of the Galactic Republic that he cannot hear information vital to the survival of his very _planet_?"

"No," Nu said. "But I would caution you, Senator, not to let your emotions blind you to the very real dangers we face. The destruction of Alderaan should be avoided if at all possible, but time travel is … difficult to predict, at best. Our actions to save it might set in motion the very events that _cause_ the destruction, if we are in a time loop of some sort."

"I would caution you, Master Jedi, not to let your detachment blind you to the very real lives at stake," Senator Organa said. "We will be cautious. But that caution must not prevent effective action." He turned to Finn. "From the beginning."

"Well," Finn said, "it all started as the Clone Wars were ending. Palpatine sent the clonetroopers with Darth Vader to kill all the Jedi and destroy the Jedi Temple, and he claimed that they had tried to stage some sort of uprising against him to justify it. And he proclaimed himself Emperor, and the Senate approved it."

"He's delusional," Sergeant Kano said. "The clones would _never_ do that."

"The Senate would _never_ do that," Organa said.

"And Palpatine would _never_ do _any_ of that!" Master Anakin said.

"Wanna bet?" Finn said.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chip!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a long wait between chapters! (This is why I never post WIPs as I go along.)

"Those are … very inflammatory accusations," Senator Organa said carefully. "What proof do you have?"

"What proof _can_ he have?" Master Anakin scoffed. "He arrived here with nothing but the clothes on his back and a couple of tracking devices. He's free to make up _any_ story he wants. What if he's a Seppie from the future, wants to spread dissension so the Republic tears itself apart and the Seppies are home free?"

Ahsoka stared at Finn, trying to ignore the storm of emotions around her. Nobody really believed Finn; nobody _wanted_ to believe him. Master Anakin, Kano and Jesse, and Senator Organa were the most disbelieving; Anakin was the angriest, although Kano and Jesse were running him a close second. But the question wasn't whether they _wanted_ Finn to be telling the truth; it was whether he _was_. And he certainly believed it, with all the fiber of his being. She stretched out with the Force, to see if the Force agreed. It was difficult; her master's emotions were roiling everything up.

"You must realize how outrageous this claim sounds to us," Master Nu said. "It would help greatly if you could provide specific information that we can verify that these things are about to take place."

Finn stared at her. "Do _you_ know detailed intelligence about the lead-up to major events from forty years before you were born?"

"Yes," Master Nu said.

"You're a librarian," Ahsoka pointed out. "And an archivist. That's kind of your job. I don't know that I would, without time to do research before-hand. Major stuff, yeah. But specific details about the stuff leading up to it?"

"That your master has stinted your history studies in these turbulent times is a pity, but hardly relevant," Nu said with a sniff. "If it were not for the extraordinary circumstances of the galactic upheaval caused by the war, you would have been required to learn such things. So would every schoolchild in the Republic."

"Galactic upheaval and war aren't extraordinary to _me_ ," Finn said. "There hasn't been galactic peace since before the Clone Wars started. And I was never a school-child in the Republic."

"Fifty more years of war?" Master Obi-Wan sounded appalled. "You cannot be serious."

"I thought you said the Clone Wars ended," Organa said.

"Are you changing your story?" Master Windu's voice was heavy with suspicion.

"The Clone Wars did end," Finn said. "And there was a lot of mopping up, pacifying military action that wasn't technically war. And then the Rebellion began, and eventually they overthrew the Empire. And then there was a lot of mopping up, stuff that wasn't technically war, while the remnants of the Empire fled to the Unknown Regions, and started rebuilding itself as the First Order. And started encroaching on New Republic territory, which the Resistance … resisted. It hasn't been fifty years of galactic war … but it certainly hasn't been _peaceful_ , either. And even if it had, I was raised a Stormtrooper—and they were a lot more interested in making sure we knew _how_ to fight than teaching us what happened leading _up_ to the fight."

"Stormtroopers," Kano said. "That's what you claim replaced the Clone Troopers, right? Who did you fight for? And what happened to the Clone Troopers?"

"Clone Troopers were phased out in the early days of the Empire," Finn said. "I don't know why—a lot of our officers certainly would have preferred clones. They said it was easier to recondition them, because they'd been designed to be obedient and uniform." He looked Kano and Jesse up and down. "Although, none of our officers were even born when any of the clones were still in service, and I gotta say, you guys are _nothing_ like they said. I mean, we would never have been allowed to personalize our armor. And we had to get permission to remove our buckets, and you guys do it all the time!"

"What's reconditioning?" Jesse asked.

"You know, when they send you in to the medics to wipe and reboot your brain," Finn said. It was so matter-of-fact, Ahsoka couldn't quite realize what he said.

"I'm sorry, when they _what_?" Senator Organa said.

"Stormtroopers have to be loyal and perfect," Finn said. "We—they are supposed to be identical in every way. Just like the clones were, cogs in the machine protecting order from the evils and chaos of democracy. If you're not measuring up—if you question orders, are too individual, whatever—they recondition you. It takes away any individual personality that's cropped up, but leaves the training and loyalty intact. Troopers who came back from reconditioning were always a little … off."

"Just like wiping a droid," Master Anakin said, voice as grim as she'd ever heard. But then again, Skyguy didn't believe in wiping droids. He treated them as much like organic beings as he could. "Don't suppose they have restraint chips or tracking chips or explosive chips in you guys?"

"No," Finn said. "Nothing like that. If they had, I'd never have been able to escape—they'd track me down."

"One would imagine that their enemies would _also_ be able to find such chips, and make use of them for purposes the First Order would not approve," Master Obi-Wan said.

"Yeah, well, any slaver would _love_ the ability to wipe a slave like a droid," Master Anakin said. "And _they_ all have chips."

"The Clone Troopers had control chips," Finn offered. "So you could program in orders and they would be followed exactly and precisely, even overriding the clone's own wishes if necessary. But that kind of chip only works if it's precisely calibrated to the neurology of the person it's installed in—it's easy for clones, because that's all the same, but you'd have to re-engineer it for each brain if you were going to put it in Stormtroopers. It's easier and more efficient to just rely on training, conditioning, and _re-_ conditioning as needed." He paused, then added thoughtfully, "I think it's basically the same technology the First Order uses in some of its slave populations, but those are a bit cruder—if it's not precisely calibrated to the subject's brain, you can't give complex commands. So nothing you could use in battle or anything."

"You know that, but not history?" Master Nu said, astonished.

"Well, yeah," Finn said. " _That_ was something a Stormtrooper needed to know. What if the slaves tried to revolt? We'd get sent in to shut them down."

"Master," Ahsoka said, "I think Fives was right."

"I don't want to believe it," Master Anakin said. "I still don't believe the Chancellor could or would do something like this. But …" he shook his head.

"Fives?" asked Master Windu.

"You remember when Tup, CT-5385, killed Master Tiplar?" Skyguy said.

Masters Windu and Nu nodded, but Senator Organa shook his head.

"It happened a few months ago," Master Obi-Wan said. "Tup shot and killed Master Tiplar during the campaign on Ringo Vinda. Just before he fired, Tup said (and I quote), 'Good soldiers follow orders.' He was taken to Kamino, where he died under mysterious circumstances. The Kaminoans claimed that he had been ill with some sort of virus that had caused him to become delusional, and that's why he did it."

"Fives was Tup's friend," Ahsoka said. "He didn't believe that was what happened. So he went AWOL to try and figure it out. See, all clones have a chip in their brains. The Kaminoans _say_ it's to regulate and inhibit aggression in the clones."

"Doesn't seem that you'd _want_ to inhibit aggression in foot soldiers," Senator Organa observed. "Isn't aggression a good thing?"

Ahsoka frowned, because she'd never thought about that, but it was true. "Well, the clones were first ordered by Master Sifo-Dyas, a Jedi, and Jedi don't think aggression is a good thing in _anybody_."

"Fives was investigating the chips and convinced Shaak Ti that there was something wrong with them, some darker purpose," Master Obi-Wan continued. "He was sent to Coruscant to speak with Chancellor Palpatine about it. From there, things become … murky."

" _Something_ happened when he was alone with Palpatine," Master Anakin said. "They said it was an assassination attempt, but I can't believe that. He wasn't in his right mind. He managed to escape, and contact us. I went with Rex to meet him, but he was paranoid, raving, I couldn't get anything straight out of him, and then he was killed by the Coruscant guards for resisting arrest, so we didn't get to properly question him. But he blamed Palpatine for _something_."

"Why Palpatine?" Senator Organa said. "I assure you, the Chancellor of the Republic has far greater demands on his time than meeting with a single Clone. Especially with such shaky data. There should have been a full investigation—scans of multiple clone brains, slicing the chips to see what their code was, at the very least, possibly even Senate hearings—before things reached that level. This should not be the first time I heard _any_ of this. Have you been investigating on your own, at least?"

"That's where Rex is, right now," Master Anakin said. "This little lull was the perfect time for him to go get his chip out and see if he could find someone to slice into the code on it, figure out what it does."

"If there _is_ a conspiracy, or if some of the chips are defective, you can see why we would need to be … quiet about it," Master Obi-Wan said.

"Given the paranoia these days, I quite agree with the need for discretion," Organa said. "Especially if the Kaminoans are lying about it, for whatever reason. But I am appalled that sending _one_ clone off by himself is the extent of your investigation. Given that this chip caused a clone to kill a Jedi, and caused another to attack the Supreme Chancellor, I would expect that self-preservation alone would inspire a more active focus on the issue."

"We've been busy lately," Master Anakin said defensively.

"And what good does it do anyone if the next malfunctioning chip causes a clone to kill _you_?" Organa asked. "And it is even more urgent now that we have heard Finn's story. If he is right, and telling the truth, surely these control chips must be what caused—or will cause—the Clone Troopers to turn on the Jedi. We need to know what is on those chips!"

"The only two examples we have of chips being removed from Clones resulted in paranoia and death," Obi-Wan said. "The plan was to have a few chips removed by people we trust, and see what the long-term effects were. If it could be done safely, then we would remove the chips from the whole battalion."

"And what if the chips are activated before then?" Jesse said. "I want mine out now! Sirs, you _know_ you'll have volunteers if you explain what the problem is."

"I know I'd rather die than be forced to kill one of my Jedi against my will," Kano said.

"We could ill-afford losing the 501st if the chip does prove necessary to their brain function," Master Windu said, "but we can afford them turning on us even less."

"And until the war ends, I doubt we'll ever have more of a breathing room than we do now right here on this rock," Ahsoka pointed out. "Question is, do we have the facilities to do brain surgery here? Or surgeons or meddroids capable of that kind of delicate work?"

"I don't like the idea of requisitioning something through channels, if there _is_ a conspiracy," Obi-Wan said.

Master Anakin folded his arms across his chest. "We'll figure something out."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From what I was able to tell, in the Star Wars universe people have made up names for the days of the week but not for the months of the year. Wookiepedia implies (but does not outright state) that each month is simply numbered. I think that's cumbersome and unlikely, but since I didn't want to go to the hassle of making something up, it's what I went with.

"The question is, can we _trust_ any information that comes from a Fleet surgeon or slicer?" Master Windu asked.

"Indeed," Master Kenobi said. "With the most recent secrecy and security acts, Palpatine has the power to order them to say only what he wishes them to say—they are even legally allowed to lie to a Jedi."

Ahsoka made a face. She didn't know much about politics, but even she knew just how major a precedent was. Republic law had always prescribed special penalties for lying to Jedi. Because of their role as peacemakers and investigators, it was legally the same as lying while under oath in court. Or at least, it had been.

"I don't believe Palpatine has done any of this," Anakin said. "There has got to be some other answer."

"I don't have the special relationship with him that you do, Anakin, but I too would rather believe Finn to be a liar." Obi-Wan shrugged. "But if there's even the slightest chance Finn is telling the truth, we need to know. This investigation will either prove Palpatine a traitor or clear his name. And we can't clear his name if we get our information from people who are legally required to follow his orders."

"Whether or not Palpatine is behind this, Master, do you _really_ want to risk the lives of our men?" Ahsoka asked. "We need to get the information on the chips from people we know we can trust."

"Who did you send Captain Rex to?" Master Windu asked.

"An old friend of mine, Dexter Jettster, used to be a smuggler," Master Obi-Wan said. "He's still got a number of connections to people who would have the expertise in slicing the chips who wouldn't blink at lying to any Republic investigators who might ask questions. Given how badly things went when we tried to investigate the chips through official channels, Rex thought—and we all agreed—that going completely outside them was wisest, for now."

"Whether or not Palpatine is guilty, there are a _lot_ of Republic bureaucrats I don't trust," Master Anakin said grimly.

"But if Rex's investigation was going to turn up anything in time for it to do any good, that would have prevented the future Finn describes," Ahsoka said. "It's obviously not quick enough. We need to get our answers _now_."

"The 501st is well-placed for a deeper investigation," Master Windu said. "You're on guard duty, and given that these are _Jedi_ ruins you're guarding, we can extend their stay here with very little fuss. Although if you two stay out of the fighting for long, the media will ask questions. We could leave Padawan Tano here with the battalion, and have you two go out with the 212th. That would buy us time."

"What would we be doing?" Ahsoka asked.

"Removing the chips from all the clones in the battalion and seeing what happens," Master Windu said. "If nothing happens, then we quietly begin removing them from other clones."

"What if they get paranoid delusions or something like Tup and Fives?" Ahsoka asked. The clones were her troops, her responsibility. Jedi were sworn to protect lives, but especially _these_ lives!

"I'm sure they'll all volunteer, Snips," Anakin said. "You heard what Jesse and Kano said. They'd rather take the chance of surgery than the chance of turning on the Jedi."

"Besides, Tup isn't a good example," Master Obi-Wan pointed out. "He _had_ his chip in when he killed Master Tiplo. If anything, it was the _chip_ that caused his breakdown, in which case they're safer with it out."

"And as for Fives, whose word do we have that he had paranoid delusions?" Master Windu asked. "If he were right, if the chip does everything Finn claims, and Palpatine is behind it, he would have been desperate to discredit Fives. How better than to claim that Fives had attacked him in a delusional state, drug him so that he appeared non compos mentis, and then claim that the whole supposed plot was nothing more than a fantasy?"

"Fives seemed pretty out of it when Rex and I talked to him," Skyguy said dubiously, "but there are drugs that could have caused that." He folded his arms and stared heavily at the floor, and Ahsoka could feel his conflict in the Force, roiling about them all.

"Master?" she asked. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that I don't believe this could possibly be true," he said. "But I also can't imagine how a time traveler could know enough about the deaths of Tup and Fives to make up a story that would fit so perfectly with it."

* * *

"You know, Finn, this would be a lot easier to verify if you could give us more specifics," Senator Organa said in frustration. "If you want us to be able to change what you say happened, we have to know what needs to be changed!" He and Master Nu had taken the lead on questioning Finn, while the other Jedi went off to figure out what to do about the chips.

"Believe me, Senator, I know," Finn said, full of frustration. He rubbed a hand over his face. He'd told them everything he knew, which wasn't much: Grand Moff Tarkin had been the one responsible for the Death Star, and he'd died when it was destroyed. Sate Pestage had been one of the Emperor's closest advisors, famed for his loyalty (and it was rumored that Supreme Leader Snoke was his son or nephew or something). Finn could rattle off a whole slew of battles that the First Order had thought important for him to know about, and all the tactical details of the ground combat side. But he knew little of the space combat, and virtually nothing of the political machinations that had created the Empire in the first place.

"Not even the date any of this is supposed to happen?"

Finn sighed. "As I explained, Senator, nobody's used the Old Republic dates since it fell. According to the First Order, the Empire was created on Centaxday, Fourth Month Thirteenth Day, Year 1. The Republic and the Resistance date things from the Battle of Yavin, when they destroyed the Death Star, which was Year 19 of the Imperial Calendar. But when "year 1" is in the old calendar, I've got no idea."

"At least we know we've got 19 years from the date of the Empire's formation to avert the Death Star," Organa said.

"We know more than that, Senator," Master Nu said, tapping something into her pad. "Finn, are the months and days the same in all calendars?"

"I think so?" Finn said. "At least, the New Republic calendar uses the same months and days as the Imperial calendar."

"So that the Fourth Month Thirteenth Day is the same on both calendars, even though the year is different?" Nu persisted.

"Yeah," Finn said.

"Let us, for the sake of argument, assume that both calendars derive their months and days from our calendar, merely swapping out the numbers," Nu said. "The next time that Fourth Month Thirteenth Day falls on a Centaxday is next year. A little over five months from now."


	8. Chapter 8

Bail Organa sat strapped in to his seat in the cruiser as it took off from Ch'tagra, but he didn't feel the rumble of the ship as it leapt into space. His thoughts were otherwise occupied.

Five months before the Republic fell. _Five kriffing months_. He'd known things were bad, but even in his wildest dreams he'd never imagined _this_ bad. There had to be a way to stop it; de-chipping the clones was a good start, but would probably not be enough to stop Palpatine. Unless he were stopped _completely_ , and exposed to all in such a way that no one could deny his treason, he had enough power and supporters that he would probably be able to at least hold on to the power he already had.

The problem was, nobody outside of the Separatists and the most insane conspiracy theorists would believe him, if he tried to expose Palpatine's power grabs for what they were. Palpatine had too great a reputation as being selflessly devoted to the Republic. And if Bail reached out to the Separatists, he would be branded a traitor himself.

"Senator?"

He looked up to see Master Windu standing in front of him. "Yes?"

"We're in hyperspace now, you can unstrap," Master Windu said. "I hope you don't mind, but we're taking a bit of a roundabout way back to Coruscant—it shouldn't add more than a day or two, but it will allow us to contact some of the Jedi in the field directly and pass quiet warnings. This shouldn't go through comm systems."

"Not even secure ones," Bail agreed. "Given that Palpatine, as chancellor, has access to every code we have."

"Not to all the Jedi codes," Windu said, "but I'd like to save those for an emergency, which this isn't quite … yet."

"Or, at least, it is an emergency in slow motion, which gives us time to think and respond carefully, instead of willy-nilly," said Master Nu. She'd spent most of the trip out reading, and true to form, was studying a bookreader now.

"While I would like to get back to Coruscant as soon as possible," Bail said, "A few extra days to figure out just what in the Force I can _do_ about all of this would not be … unwelcome." That was one of the first lessons he'd learned as a senator: even in a crisis, it was important to take time to figure out what the crisis _was_ and what the best response would be before acting. Especially in a crisis.

"Indeed," Nu said. "If there is any research you require for this project, please do let me know. The Jedi Archives are the most complete and extensive in the galaxy, and we are more discreet than a holonet search or the Senate Archives."

"Thank you, Master Nu," Bail said, relieved. The Senate Archives were extensive (and possibly, in political or governmental matters even greater than the Jedi Archives), but bribing the librarians and archivists to know who was researching what was common practice. "I will definitely take you up on that. I'd say background research into Palpatine, Tarkin, Pestage, and every other person Finn mentioned is a good place to start."

"Indeed, _that_ would have been done regardless, but I will be sure to pass the results to you," Nu said.

"And I want to know every shred of information we have about how the clones came to be ordered in the first place," Bail said. "If they're a part of how he plans to take over the Republic, then he _must_ have been in on their creation somehow. It can't have been just one rogue Jedi with visions."

"No, it can't," Master Windu said. "But it's even more serious than that. The clones themselves would be useless without a war to fight. If the Separatists had not chosen to break away at the exact moment the clones were discovered, things would have transpired very differently."

"If they broke away before the clones were revealed, the Republic would have looked harder for a peaceful solution because we wouldn't have had the option of fighting, not on that scale," Bail said, sagging back in his chair. "And if the clones were revealed first, we'd have had time to investigate the details of their provenance."

Nu nodded. "The timing would have had to have been _very_ tight. That argues strongly for, although it does not prove, collusion."

Windu nodded. "Finn tells us that 'Darth Vader' is the one to lead the clones against the Jedi. 'Darth' is a Sith title. The Separatists are led by the Sith; although we do not know Dooku's Sith name he must have one for he regularly uses Sith tactics, abilities, and equipment, and refers to himself _as_ Sith."

"But if a Sith is working to create this 'Empire' of Finn's and put Palpatine on the throne, then they _must_ be working together," Bail said. "The whole war has been, from start to finish, nothing more than a stratagem to destroy the Republic and leave an Empire in its place." He closed his eyes, willing himself to wake up from this horrifying nightmare. Every time he thought things couldn't get worse, they did. "Do we have any idea who this Vader might be?"

"Unless the Sith have changed radically from what we expect, there are only two at a time, a master and an apprentice," Nu said. "The Sith are power-hungry and would never go through all this trouble to put someone _else_ on the throne, so chances are very good that Palpatine is the master, which would make Dooku the apprentice. This fits our timeline; during the period in which the previous apprentice, killed on Naboo during the Trade Federation invasion, was being trained, Dooku was a master of the Jedi Order in good standing who would not have had the time to train anyone in secret. Therefore, he cannot be the master. We do not know his Sith name. If we are right as to the timeline, and in the original timeline Darth Vader leads the clones against the Temple in five months time, there is not sufficient time for Dooku to die and a replacement to be trained. It is therefore quite likely, although by no means certain, that Dooku _is_ Vader."

Windu sighed. "Even as a Sith, I would not have thought him capable of it."

* * *

Finn stood next to Kano and Jesse and watched as the shuttle containing the senator and two Jedi took off. He still wasn't quite free—"We don't think you're lying, Finn," Ahsoka had said, "we're just not sure you're not delusional"—but they didn't really count him as a danger or possible spy, any more. He could go anywhere within the camp, as long as they knew where he was and he wasn't alone.

"Well," Kano said as the shuttle went out of sight, "now all we have to worry about is those kriffing chips in our heads."

"For now," Jesse said. "Once _they're_ out, then the whole Sith-damned mess is back in our laps."

"How long do you think it'll take your Commander to get back with a surgical droid?" Finn asked. None of the clone medics had the skills for brain surgery, and while some of the med droids might, they were all standard GAR issue. The young Togruta had been deemed the least conspicuous person to find the nearest hospital and acquire some that wouldn't have any hidden 

"I don't know," Jesse said. "And if it takes too long, I'll be marching in there and asking for it out even with droids we can't quite trust. I know it's psychosomatic, but the idea that there's something up there trying to control me _itches_."

"You're not the only one, vod," Kano said.

The clones did that, Finn had noticed. They used another language sometimes, one Finn didn't know. He wondered what it meant, but of all the questions he had, that one was pretty far down the list.

"In the meantime, we've still got to be ready if Dooku _does_ show up," Kano said. "And I'm presuming we don't want him or anybody else noticing anything weird. Such as someone hanging around a GAR camp who's not a Jedi, clone, or Republic dignitary." He looked Finn up and down. "You were a trooper, right? How would you feel about getting back in a bucket?"

**Author's Note:**

> One of my first fics was a WIP, and after it was done I vowed NEVER AGAIN would I post a fic until I was done with it. Well. Um. ::waves bashfully:: Hi! Here we are! I'll try to update this regularly, but I have only the vaguest idea where it's going--I'd love some brainstorming help. Mostly, I'm sitting here chortling over a couple of places where Finn probably knows _just_ enough to REALLY confuse things. And I don't know how it will end. Will Finn get home to find it unchanged? Will Finn not get home and live out his life in the Clone Wars era? Will his information be enough to change things? (Will Rey and possibly Poe follow him back through time?) Will something ELSE happen? I DON'T KNOW, please send me your opinions. Don't promise to take any, but who knows? Also, canon help would be REALLY appreciated. I have read Clone Wars fic, but at the moment I am watching my way through The Clone Wars for the first time.
> 
> Also, I'd love to get a better title, but I suck at titles, so if you've got a better idea, I'd love to hear it.
> 
> I'm also on [dreamwidth](http://beatrice-otter.dreamwidth.org/) and [tumblr](http://beatrice-otter.tumblr.com/).


End file.
